Dennis Taylor Restorations is operated by Dennis Taylor and his wife, Debby, and the two have been building fiberglass Willys and '32 Fords for 15 years. When it came time to build this wild '53 DeSoto wagon, Dennis decided to ditch the fiberglass: “That's what I've done all my life. This is my project now, I just do steel.” Dennis and Debby built this wagon over the course of a little more than five years to take on the HOT ROD Power Tour®. “You can put four adults in it and still cruise like a Cadillac,” Dennis says.

[09.20.07]
After selling a previous project, Dennis went on eBay and began browsing the project-car section. He found the wagon listed in Kansas. “I've never done a car like this, and I wanted to do something different,” Dennis says. “Most '53 DeSotos have their grilles missing, so when I found this one with the grille in it, I decided I'd build the entire car.”

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[11.01.07]
Dennis called his friend, Brian Stupski at PCK Studio in Phoenix, who drew up this illustration of the car as a starting point.

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[12.02.07]
Dennis used the original frame as a guide, but kicked it up drastically in the rear to clear the 22-inch wheels when the airbags are fully compressed. This is the passenger front framerail. The chassis was constructed in three separate pieces and then welded together.

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[01.03.08]
Here is the perimeter of the frame. At this point, it still needs several crossmembers for added strength, and the brackets have yet to be added for Dennis’s custom-triangulated four-link rear suspension.

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[01.16.08]
Using a lift, the body was lowered onto the perimeter chassis to determine the perfect height over the frame before new floorboards were built from scratch to accommodate the channel job.

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[01.25.08]
Street and Performance, in Mena, Arkansas, delivered a Chrysler 6.1L Hemi backed by a 45RFE five-speed auto, like what’s in a new Challenger SRT8. S&P also constructed the wiring harness and front-drive system.

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[03.12.08]
Some days, we aspire to be half as good as Dennis. Here are the custom floorboards and tunnel.

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[03.30.08]
Here, the body is back from the sandblaster and ready for the tremendous amount of body reworking.

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[12.12.08]
The leading edge of the rear-quarter-panel bulges had to be built from scratch. The stock DeSoto only had a large piece of stainless trim that acted as a splash apron; there was no actual sheetmetal. The rear bumper is from a ’68 Camaro, but was cut in 14 different places while being reworked.

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[04.07.09]
The front bumper is all sheetmetal, which Dennis built using the rods seen here. The turn signals were reworked. The front clip, minus hood and grille, is one piece.

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[10.11.09]
Every piece you see here—minus the engine, trans, third member, driveshaft, and wheels and tires—was hand built by Dennis. He used some Heidts hardware, and Ridetech supplied the air-ride suspension.

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[11.12.09]
After Dennis sprayed the PPG Tarragon Green and Metallic Gray, he added Raptor bedliner to the underside.

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[11.25.09]
Dennis and Debby recovered new Cerullo seats in black leather and simulated crocodile. They used 10 yards of material covering the door panels and headliner. “Man, that was a job. We’re used to doing smaller cars; there’s double everything in here. It’s a big ol’ car,” Dennis says.

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[01.01.13]
Here is the finished product. Those are Billet Specialties Chicayne wheels, 20-inch fronts and 22-inch rears. This is the lowest the car will go, and it can be driven like this without tire rubbing, even under steering full-lock. Dennis handmade the turn-signal lenses, and the headlights are original, but Dennis made them work with 12-volt and halogen bulbs rather than the car’s original 6-volt system.

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What's a DeSoto?
DeSoto was founded by Chrysler in 1928 as a mid-level car, priced less than the Chrysler-branded cars.

DeSotos were made from the model years '29–'61.

The cars are named for Hernando de Soto, the Spanish explorer credited with the first expeditions in the mid-1500s into what is now the United States.

Starting in 1952, DeSotos were sold with FireDome Hemi engines that did not share architecture with the Chrysler or Dodge. From '52–'54, they were 276 ci; in '55, they were 291 ci; the '56 models had 330 or 341 ci; and the '57s were 341 or 345 ci.